Vibrating devices and more particularly vibrating screeds for surfacing concrete are known in the art, these devices include an elongated surfacing blade mounted transversally at the bottom of a pair of hand-held steering handles with an actuator, such as a motor being adapted to transmit to the blade a vibratory motion. Usually, the motor acts on a vibration-causing device, which is in communication with the blade to impart this vibratory motion.
Examples of such devices inlcude U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,188 issued to Rouillard Aug. 29, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,961 issued to Rouillard on Jul. 18, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,467 issued to Rouillard on Oct. 2, 2001.
A drawback of the prior art vibrating screeds is that the vibration-causing device causes undesired movements to the blade that do not allow for smooth surfacing.
Another drawback of the prior art is that the junction between the actuator and the vibration-causing assembly is often damaged by concrete accidentally entering this junction during the surfacing operation.
A further drawback of the prior art is that the handles are not of a convenient height for a variety of users.